Hopkins Question (your input is needed)

[emjill]

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Hi Everyone,

Congrats to everyone who has been accepted to schools so far, and good luck to all of you who are still waiting to hear!

I recently got accepted to Johns Hopkins SPH for an MPH and I was SHOCKED to say the least. I applied mostly because I was told I "had to" and figured I would go for the MPH. Now I am looking over the program and it terrifies me! 11 months, no extra field experience (I have a year in Thailand) and a class filled with people with higher degrees. So my question to all of you is. I am interested in Global Health, with a focus in reproductive health and I have also gotten in to Columbia, Emory and Tulane. So my questions are:

1) How "intense" is the MPH program at Hopkins? I really don't want to be in over my head!

2) Is it worth it to try to get into an MHS program instead ? Who would I even contact to go about doing that?

3) Would I be better off pursuing an MPH at another school?

Any Any Any input would be GREATLY appreciated 🙂

Thanks

 

[hankea4]

Hey - I got into Hopkins for the MHS program recently. While I don't know much about the MPH program, I think you should trust the admissions committee's decision - they are a highly selective and only accept students who they believe can not only survive, but thrive, within public health. So unless you're not wililng to put in the effort/time necessary to excel in the program, i would probably be in your best interest to go to JHU (financial issues aside...I don't know if you're getting a scholarship elsewhere).

In terms of the MHS program - it seems more specialized than the MPH; also, many students (professional MHS track) take classes for 1 year and then work for 9 months within a public health job/health care industry. That combination of academic and professional experience was my impetus to apply...but I also know that there is a research track for the MHS, in which case you would need a clear defined focus within public health, which it sounds you have. But since you got into the MPH program you should probalby just go with it because some circles consider it a "higher" degree, although that is up for speculation as well.

My advice - accept the JHU decision. There a many great schools of public health, but Hopkins, especially when it comes to global health, is virtually without peer.

 

[jdando]

For what it's worth - I was accepted to JHSPH in the 11m MPH program and I only have a BA. I have a few years work experience, working in research. You can pm me if you want to talk about it. But I trust that the admissions committees don't take people they think won't be able to cut it.

It's going to be a lot of work and mostly training yourself to be in school full time, nothing else.

I think you should go for it!

 

[aspiringmph]

Hi, congrats on your acceptance! I also got into JHU for the MPH, and I have just a BA (politics) but I do have 3 years domestic and 1 year international experience. I'm also looking at global health but with a concentration in infectious diseases. I think as far as being able to handle the coursework -- you will be fine. Don't second guess yourself. As far as I can tell the MHS students take similar classes but in different sequences.

However, the question still remains as to whether you want to go to JHU. I think the fact that there is no opportunity for an internship or summer fellowship is a major downside to the degree, no matter how fancy the name of the school is. I suppose if you are going into research, name is really important, but if you are working in the field, relevant work experience is critical.

On this site you can contact current students who have interests similar to yours -- maybe you can get their opinions.
http://commprojects.jhsph.edu/communications/students/default.cfm

Also, go to this site and plug in some course numbers. Click through the syllabus pages and look at the bottom for a link to course evaluations. This will give you an idea of how big the courses are and how people rate them. I was surprised to see how some of the higher-level courses still have class sizes of 100. You'll also see that most people rate the level of work as 'just right' -- but it's a survey so who knows how reliable the data is.
http://commprojects.jhsph.edu/courses/

Personally I'm wondering if I would thrive more at a smaller school with more faculty and classroom interaction as well as opportunities for internships, even if I don't have a bright and shiny brand name on my resume. But I know everyone will tell me I am crazy for turning down Hopkins.

Good luck -- all of the schools you are considering are top-rate so I don't think you can go wrong!

 

[tcliu07]

congrats everyone above who got into hopkins.
just wanted to know how you guys were able to check your status. it's been a while since my file was completed... does that mean i'm out of the running? 😛

 

[emjill]

Thanks everyone for your responses so far! And yes, the lack of field work is a bit of a negative for me. Especially since Columbia offers GH students a SIX MONTH practicum! Either way, I will be down at JHU Visit Day on the 27th, will anyone else be there?

As for finding out, my application had been sent in Months ago, and I just found out this week. I checked the application website to find out.

If anyone has any more input, feel free to share.......

Goodluck everyone 🙂